Here’s a pretty good read on the Fangio kidnapping and accompanying tragic race – can’t believe I hadn’t heard of that before.@thezadak
I remember seeing parts of a documentary about a Brit driver who drove for Mercedes in the 30s (sporting a swastika on the car, oy vey) who was involved in some spy story – any idea of the name of the film maybe?

@mrgrieves – I think you’re missing the point of this topic. I think Zadak wants to know the worst places to have held a Grand Prix based on the surroundings rather than the racing that places has produced or the quality of the circuit. Abu Dhabi is by no means a bad place – it’s all monolitic skyscrapers on the waterfront, which is hardly the worst place in the world, even if the racing the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix produces is of a generally low quality. On the other hand, the Bahrain Grand Prix was held in the midst of civil uprising and violent clashes between protesters and police. The quality of the racing or the circuit doesn’t come into it: the atmosphere and the backdrop mae it horrible.

Personally, I think Phoenix and Detroit were two of the worst places for races. Phoenix was just so bland; the only way it could have been worse would have been if the race was in Scottsdale. As for Detroit, I don’t know what it was like in the 1980s, but looking at it today, I see a city that is rotting.